Intro

Welcome to our Big News section for all the latest news concerning Military Disability.

We'll do our best to keep you up to date on everything that could affect your disability. Since the majority of our news will cover legal issues that can be dragged out for a long time, if you'd like an update on an issue, let us know, and we'll do what we can.

Please feel free to comment and submit questions. We want to give you the information you need, so help us by letting us know what you want to know.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

The VA recently hit a milestone of over 2 million
appointments scheduled through the Veterans Choice Program. Despite getting off
to a slow start, the Choice Program has grown significantly. The number of
network providers has increased by 85 percent over the last 12 months, making now
more than 350,000 providers and facilities in the Choice network. In addition, authorizations
for care increased 103 percent from October 2015 through March 2016. While the
Choice program still has quite a ways to go to realize its original designs,
clear progress has been made.

The VA’s Telehealth Services allow veterans access to
healthcare via the phone and internet. Although the initial reaction of many
veterans to Telehealth Services was skeptical, more positive feedback is being
given as more telehealth hubs come online (including the most recent TelementalHealth hub) and people give them a try. Veterans report being pleasantly
surprised by the quality of the technology used, the ability to have their
concerns addressed by a physician, and the convenience of not having to travel
long distances to receive care.

Telehealth Services offer several benefits, among which are
convenient access to care for veterans in remote or rural locations and
significant savings for the VA by making it possible for the VA to utilize
specialists unavailable in the local area. Over 12,000 veterans have used the
VA’s Telehealth Services so far this year. If you live in an area where you do
not have convenient access to a VA facility and would like to know more about
using Telehealth Services, please visit www.telehealth.va.gov/real-time/.

These are just a couple of the positive changes at the VA.
While they are an improvement, the VA recognizes that much more needs to be
done and pledges to keep working to improve not only veterans’ access to care,
but also the quality of care they receive.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

The Arla Harrell Act was introduced in the Senate last month
and aims to make it easier for veterans who were exposed to mustard gas to
receive benefits for conditions related to that exposure. Many of these
veterans have had their claims denied for several reasons, often multiple times—over
90% of these claims have been denied since 2005.

These denials are because proving exposure to mustard gas is
incredibly difficult since service records are highly unavailable. Most records
simply never existed due to the secret nature of the testing, and of those that
did exist, many were destroyed in a fire. The Arla Harrell Act calls for speedy
reviews of previously denied claims and strives to make it easier for veterans
to establish service-connection.

Since the mustard gas testing was de-classified in 1991, the
VA has made only 2 attempts by mail to locate those veterans who participated.
In June, VA spokesman James Hutton stated that the VA acknowledges that
full-body exposure to mustard gas may indeed be linked to disabilities and that
“the VA is committed to identifying, locating and fairly compensating all WWII
veterans who developed disabilities because they were exposed to mustard gas,
whether through DoD testing or on the battlefields abroad.”

He also stated that the VA planned to send letters to
veteran participants and their families with instructions on how to get help.
Do note, however, that their list of participants is not complete, and so if
you do not get a letter but were exposed, you may still qualify.

If you or someone you know was exposed to mustard gas either
through testing or on the battlefield, and you have developed one or more
conditions you think might be related to that exposure, you can check out the VA’s Presumptive List for Mustard Gas and Lewisite Exposureon
our website. Please note that exposure to mustard gas alone is not enough to
apply for VA Disability. You have to have developed a medical condition because
of the exposure. You may email questions about mustard gas related benefits to
the VA at mustardgas@vba.va.gov.

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About Me

As a retired Air Force Colonel and physician, I am a Military Disability and VA Disability specialist. As a physician, I have specialties in preventive medicine, occupational medicine, and healthcare administration. While on active duty, I had direct responsibility over preventive medicine for all military members in deployed environments and contingency operations. Since retiring, I have worked as a contractor for the Physical Disability Board of Review (PDBR), reviewing military disability cases, and for the VA, performing C&P exams.